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Feist performed her song "1234" on the Late Show with David Letterman earlier this week. Helping her with backing vocals were the members of Broken Social Scene, Grizzly Bear, The National, The New Pornographers, and Mates of State. You can check out the great performance below, and also get the audio rip.
[mp3] Feist - 1234 (live)
Feist - 1234 (Live on the Late Show with David Letterman)
It's time for another mix, and the concept for this one is pretty simple. It includes songs that have the name of a city or state in the title. While putting this mix together, it surprised me the number of songs that are written about cities and states. I'm sure a lot of songs are born because of something that stands out to the songwriter about the cities and states that they pass through as they tour across the country. Also, a lot of songs are written about the hometowns or states that they grew up in. It's interesting to me to get a glimpse of a songwriter's perception of a certain place at a certain moment of time.
Billy Bragg & Wilco - California Stars [Buy Album] [iTunes]
Bob Dylan - Oxford Town [Buy Album] [iTunes]
Whiskeytown - Jacksonville Skyline [Buy Album] [iTunes]
Ben Gibbard & Andrew Kenny - Carolina [Buy Album] [iTunes]
Steve Tannen - San Francisco [Buy Album] [iTunes]
Sufjan Stevens - Decatur, or, Round of Applause... [Buy Album] [iTunes]
Damien Jurado - Denton, TX [Buy Album] [iTunes]
Iron & Wine - Sodom, South Georgia [Buy Album] [iTunes]
Okkervil River - Kansas City [Buy Album] [iTunes]
The Damnwells - Texas [Buy Album] [iTunes]
All-Time Quarterback - Cleveland [Buy Album] [iTunes]
Gob Iron - East Virginia Blues [Buy Album] [iTunes]
I was out of town this weekend, so "Movie Monday" is going to be kind of slim today. I've posted the trailer for the comedy 2 Days In Paris. It co-stars Adam Goldberg (Saving Private Ryan, Entourage) and Julie Delpy (Before Sunset, The Hoax), and it follows a couple that is trying to revive the romance in their relationship by taking a European vacation together. When they spend a couple of days in Paris with Delpy's parents, the fun begins. The trailer sets it all up, so check it out.
2 Days In Paris Movie Trailer
Do you remember when MTV used to play music videos? Not that they would play anything now that I would want to see or hear, but I remember when MTV was a good outlet for bands to get their music heard and seen. Some of the best videos came out during the early nineties, and one of my favorite videos from that time was R.E.M.'s video for "Losing My Religion." The use of religious imagery and the video's concept was based on the short story "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” which was written by Gabriel García Márquez. In 1991, "Losing My Religion", which was directed by Tarsem Singh, won several MTV Video Music Awards, including the award for Best Video of the Year. Enjoy the video, and check out the live version of "Losing My Religion."
R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
I've decided that I'm going to try to do a post a week devoted to movies. It can range from just posting trailers of upcoming movies that I think look worth seeing, posting music from new soundtracks that are coming out, giving my thoughts on a movie that I've recently seen, or anything that's movie related. The posts will be on Mondays, hence the name "Movie Monday" (clever, huh).
The movie that gets the honor of being the first feature is the Jeffrey Blitz film Rocket Science. It's a comedy about teenage angst that is centered around the high school debate team. The film is the winner of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival's Dramatic Directing Prize, and it was also named the Best American Independent Film at the Philadelphia Film Festival. It's been out for a few weeks, but only in select cities. It looks like more cities are being added each week, so check the film's website to see if it's showing at a theater near you. Hopefully, it will do well so that it gets a wider release. Based on the trailer and reviews, I really want to see this one.
Not only does the movie look great, but the soundtrack is excellent. Eef Barzelay, of Clem Snide, is the film's musical composer and has contributed several songs and the instrumental tracks for most of the film. There are also two Violent Femmes songs, "Blister In The Sun" and "Kiss Off", included on the album. (On a side note, the two Violent Femmes' songs are off of their self-titled, 1983 release. If you do not have this album, you must buy it now. This is one of those classic albums that should be in everyone's collection.)
If anyone has had a chance to see Rocket Science, please leave your thoughts and opinion in the comments section.
Eef Barzelay - Fight Song Melodies [mp3]
Violent Femmes - Blister In The Sun [mp3]
Rocket Science Movie Trailer
For the past couple of weeks I've been listening to Aaron Schroeder's new album Black & Gold. This is Aaron's second album, the follow up to 2006's Southern Heart In Western Skin. With Black & Gold, Aaron has crafted a wonderful album that is going to garner him much deserved attention. It is a mixture of pop songs reminiscent of the 1960's and folk-country tunes that reflect one of his influences, Billy Bragg. The album's opening track, "What We Don't Know", is an instantly likable single that should find its way on many of the end-of-year "Top 10" lists. The shuffling ballad "Call Out To Me" is another great song that is impossible to not listen to continuously. Other stand out tracks like "All Along The Day", "Fake Crimes", and "Backwoods Child" make this a must have album.
The album will be out in a couple of weeks, but you can pre-order it now at Aaron's Myspace page. If you pre-order it you get it at the special price of $7.99, and while they last, you also get a free pin, poster, and stickers.
Aaron Schroeder - What They Don't Know [mp3]
This Unique Museum is Ben Fitton, and his music is described as "mixing the gentle pace of low-fi indie rock with the ambient sound of shoe gazing dream pop." Ben has released the EP, Installment One: A Killer, A Murder, A Mystery.... It is comprised of four songs that were written by The Killers, but Ben has stripped and slowed them down to the point that you almost don't recognize them. All of the tracks are haunting and beautiful, and I recommend listening to them through headphones to get the full experience. The track list includes: "All These Things That I've Done", "Smile Like You Mean It", "Somebody Told Me", and "Mr. Brightside".
In October of this year, This Unique Museum's second full length album, Chapter One: A Catalogue Of Madness & Melancholy, will be released. Ben is doing something pretty cool through his website with this release. He is going to post about sixteen tracks to his website and let his fans give their input. Then he will pick ten or eleven tracks for the album. Be sure to head over there and give him your feedback.
This Unique Museum - Mr. Brightside [mp3]
I was introduced to Matt Nathanson's music through his 2003 album Beneath These Fireworks, and quickly became a fan of his blend of pop/rock and acoustic songs. His new album, Some Mad Hope, is his first studio album since Beneath The Fireworks, and the four year wait for new songs has been worth it. The theme of Some Mad Hope is about the good and bad moments in relationships. Matt describes it best:
"I definitely think of the album as capturing the arc of a relationship. It starts out on a positive note and it goes to some really dark places. But after touching bottom, there's a sense of optimism in the end. Maybe coming from a realization that two people can be a team, not just two individuals who happen to be together."
Matt has said that the process of writing and recording Some Mad Hope was done with a "newfound songwriting confidence." This album has more depth, both musically and lyrically, than his previous releases. The songs range from fast-paced rock ("Car Crash", "Detroit Waves") to quiet ballads ("Bulletproof Weeks", "Still", "Sooner Surrender"). It's one of those albums that you can listen to from beginning to end without hitting the fast forward button, because there is not a bad song on the album. I highly recommend it. Matt is also known for his great live show, so be sure to check out the link below to the concert that he recorded for NPR.
Matt Nathanson - All We Are
It has been nine years since the release of a Buffalo Tom album, and with the current release of Three Easy Pieces, they show that they can still make great music. With that much time off, you would think that the guys would lose some of their chemistry or tightness as a band, but it's like listening to the early and mid-nineties Buffalo Tom. Three Easy Pieces has the trademark Buffalo Tom sound, and the songwriting is excellent. This is a great comeback album for the guys, and let's just hope that it doesn't take nine years for the next one. If you're a Buffalo Tom fan you must get this album, and if you're new to their music this is a great one to start with.
Buffalo Tom - September Shirt (Late Show With David Letterman)
Shayna and The Bulldog is a Davis, CA band that have recently self-released their debut EP, Firecracker In Winter. It is a mix of alt-country and indie rock/pop. The band has two lead singers, Charles Caskey and Joel Daniel, that write songs that are so different from each other that you would think that you are listening to different bands. Charles Caskey's songs are on the alt-country side and are similar to something that you would hear if you mixed The Bottle Rockets with The Sycamores. Joel Daniel is more indie rock/pop and reminds me of Fountains of Wayne. The combination makes for an interesting listen. I've posted a song from each so that you can hear the different styles. If you like what you hear, go buy the EP at their Myspace page.
